Not just the sixth child
by sparkleygem
Summary: SUMMERTIME parallel series- Ron's story. Ron goes home for the summer and learns that he is a vital member of the Weasley family.
1. Going Home

A/N- This is one of a three-part parallel series called Summertime, about what happens to our three favourite Gryffindors, (well, *my* three favourite Gryffindors anyway), during the summer leading up to fifth year. These stories will be sort-of prequels to 'Please Help Me With A Title', but you don't have to read these before you read that, and vice-versa. Each story begins at King's Cross at the end of book four, and all three of them link together, but you don't necessarily have to read all of them. I suggest you do though, because I personally think they will be quite interesting. (I might be slightly biased though). What happens to them in a brief summary- Harry finds out some unexpected things about Dudley, Ron grows closer to his sister and learns that he is not just the sixth child, and Hermione gets back in touch with her Muggle side.  
  
Anyway, please don't flame me!!! This is Ron's story………enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer- The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling. There, I said it. I don't like it but I said it. I have nothing against J.K, except for the fact that she owns Harry potter and I don't. For that I hate myself.  
  
Chapter one- Going home.  
  
Harry winked at Fred and George, turned, and wandered off after his uncle. Ron watched him go, feeling completely helpless- Harry had to spend the entire summer with the Dursleys AGAIN, and, with what had happened, it was more than likely he wouldn't be able to leave that house at all. And what if You-Know-Who came after him? How were three Muggles who didn't even like him going to help Harry at all?  
  
"Ron?" Ron turned to look at Hermione, who was watching him worriedly; his thoughts must have shown on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked. Ron shrugged, unsure how to put his thoughts into words. It always happened- he would think of something, and then not know how to voice his opinion. But Hermione seemed to understand what he was worrying about. She was probably worrying about the same thing.  
  
"I think he'll be alright." She said, in a convincing tone of voice. Ron wasn't quite sure whom she was trying to convince though. He didn't say that, of course. Instead, he leant on his trolley, so his head was level with Hermione's and spoke quietly so that his Mother wouldn't hear. She was worried enough already.  
  
"What if You-Know-Who comes to get him and…" He began, but Hermione cut him off, shaking her head wildly. "No." She said firmly. "That won't happen."  
  
"But what if…" Ron tried again. "No." Hermione repeated. She took a deep breath. "And anyway, isn't there some kind of ancient protection on his house?" She said reasonably. Ron straightened up, not feeling very reassured. "I suppose so." He mumbled.  
  
Hermione suddenly looked over Ron's shoulder and grinned. "My parents are here." She said, picking up her bag and slinging it onto her shoulder. "Bye!" She said cheerfully. What happened next happened so quickly Ron almost missed it- Hermione went up on tiptoes and kissed Ron on the cheek, just like she had done to Harry. Ron was surprised, to say the least. He had seen Hermione kiss Harry, but had assumed it was because she was so worried about him, and so he hadn't been expecting one himself. Ron could feel the tips of his ears turning pink, and was extremely relieved when Hermione turned around straight away to say goodbye to his Mum, Ginny, Fred and George.  
  
Thanking his lucky stars that the twins hadn't seen Hermione kiss him, Ron turned to see where Hermione's parents were. He had only ever met them a few times before, but they had seemed very friendly on all of those occasions. He spotted them outside a bookshop called "W. H. Smith", ('stupid name' Ron thought), still some way off. Hermione had good eyesight. They spotted Ron and waved cheerfully, and he waved back. Ron turned around to see Hermione almost collapsing under the weight of Fred and George, who both had her in a hug and were pretending to sob onto her shoulders. Mrs Weasley soon stepped in though, and the twins backed off, still pretending to cry. Hermione made her way back over to her trolley. She made sure Crookshanks' cage was secure on top of her trunk and then smiled at Ron. "See you later then." She said.  
  
Ron managed to smile back, though why it was so hard to do so he didn't know. "Yeah. Bye." He said. Hermione waved over her shoulder at Ginny and pushed her trolley off towards her parents. Ron turned to look at his Mum, wondering how they were getting home. Usually they went by Floo Powder- an old friend of the family lived about a five-minute walk away from the train station, and they would use his fireplace. However, Ron knew that he had moved house last summer, so he didn't know what was going to happen.  
  
Ron suddenly realised that his Mum was staring at him, with a very weird expression on her face. Ron started to feel very uncomfortable. What was wrong with her? Molly Weasley snapped out of her trance and looked at her other children. "Come on then." She said briskly. "We're getting the Knight Bus home." She glanced at Ron again and began to walk towards the exit.  
  
"I haven't been on that since I was seven." Ginny said as she fell into step with Ron. She stepped closer to him and whispered: "Mum keeps staring at you." Ron looked at Ginny, surprised that she had noticed. He shrugged. "I know. What's wrong with her?" He whispered back.  
  
Ginny shrugged back as Fred looked over his shoulder at them. "Why are you whispering? That's very rude you know." He said with a smirk. George turned around and grinned at them. "Is this the up rising of the youngens or something?" He said. He and Fred started laughing.  
  
Ron scowled. "Bugger off." He replied shortly. Molly Weasley turned around and frowned at her youngest son. "Just ignore them Ron." She said, shooting the twins annoyed looks. They smiled innocently back at her, and Ginny started laughing.  
  
They had finally reached the exit. The five of them walked through the car park to a small side street on the other side of it. Mrs Weasley checked to see that no one was watching, and then pulled out her wand and held it out into the road. She hastily stepped back as a triple-decker, bright purple bus appeared in front of them out of nowhere with a loud bang.  
  
The doors started to open, but Ron was suddenly distracted by the sound of a car horn from the other side of the car park. He looked over and saw Hermione standing next to a large silver car, frantically waving at something. Ron looked over to see what it was and realised it was Harry's car. Ron looked back at Hermione and found she was staring at the Knight Bus, her eyes wide with shock. Ron watched as she turned to her parents and said something to them, presumably about the bus as she turned around again and pointed at it.  
  
Ron waved at her, and Hermione finally spotted him and waved back. She turned to her parents again, who were staring over at the Knight Bus with blank looks on their faces. Ron frowned, but then suddenly realised that they would not be able to see the Knight Bus- they were Muggles.  
  
"Ron?" Ron turned to look at Ginny, who was already on the bus, and waiting for him to get on. Ron suddenly realised that he was the only one not on the bus yet. With a quick wave over in Hermione's direction, he boarded the bus.  
  
As it was daytime, the bus was filled with different-sized sofas and armchairs. Ron vaguely remembered Harry telling him that when he went on the Knight Bus, it was filled with beds. Ron walked over to where his family were sitting and flopped down onto an armchair opposite his Mum. He couldn't wait to get home, but he wished that Harry were with them. At least at the Burrow there was a magic environment and people who could make sure he was safe. Ron knew that Harry could take care of himself, but what if they caught him off guard? And what about Hermione? None of her family knew magic- she was completely unprotected. As a Muggle-born she was in danger, but of course she would never see it like that. She and Harry were too stubborn.  
  
Ron looked up as the Bus screeched to a halt. He looked out of the window and saw by the street signs that they were in Wales. He sat back in his chair and saw that his Mum was staring at him again. Ron shifted uneasily in his seat and glanced at Ginny, who was observing with interest. She gave him a small smile.  
  
The bus was on the move again, and a few moments later it had screeched to a halt outside the Burrow. The doors opened and the conductor (who looked like he was getting over a bad case of acne) helped them get their trunks off of the Bus. The bus disappeared with a bang.  
  
Please r/r! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- Yeah, yeah.  
  
Chapter Two-  
  
"Hello? Anyone home?" Fred, George, Ron and Ginny had all been sitting in the living room, but at the sound of their father's voice the four of them jumped up and ran into the kitchen. Arthur Weasley looked completely worn out, and he had a few more strands of grey hair than before the summer, but his face broke into a smile when they rushed in to greet him. "Dad!" Ginny cried, rushing at him to give him a hug. Mr Weasley hugged his only daughter tightly. "Hi Ginny. How are you?" He asked, as they broke apart. Ginny shrugged. "I'm Ok. Are you? You look like death warmed up." She said with concern. Arthur rolled his eyes. "Tell me what you really think." He said sarcastically, turning to his sons. Fred, George and Ron were a little more reserved than Ginny as they greeted their father. For example, they didn't rush at him and give him big hugs. Arthur smiled brightly and acted normally, but the three boys all silently agreed with their sister- he did look awful. "So how's it going Dad?" Ron asked as they all sat down at the kitchen table. Mr Weasley sighed as he ran a hand through what was left of his hair. "Er. fine. Things are a bit hectic at work, but apart from that." He said. It didn't take a genius to tell that he was lying. Fred rolled his eyes. "Come on Dad. Dumbledore told us about You-Know-Who." He said. Mr Weasley looked up in surprise. "He did? Well, that was unexpected." He said a little helplessly. Ron leant forward. "Is Fudge budging yet?" He asked. Mr Weasley looked up at Ron in even greater surprise. "How on earth do you know about.oh. Of course. You're our man on the inside, aren't you? Well, it's not good. I'm afraid that the majority of the Ministry agree with Fudge, and the ones who do believe Dumbledore and me would prefer to agree with Fudge. I don't know what to do." He said. Ron slumped back into his chair as his siblings began to ask questions. They, of course, hadn't been present in the hospital wing when Fudge had declared the whole situation ridiculous, and so they did not know that the minister for Magic refused to believe the horrible truth. "What are you talking about?" Ginny asked her father with a frown. Mr Weasley sighed heavily and began to explain. "Well, Mr Fudge, he, he doesn't believe that You-Know-Who has risen." He said wearily. Fred, George and Ginny simultaneously rolled their eyes and sat back in their chairs. They didn't need to ask how Ron had known before them- Harry would have known and Harry told he and Hermione everything. Mr Weasley went onto explain the various ways he and Alastor Moody were thinking of to convince people that what was happening was real, but Ron found he didn't really want to listen. It was all too close to home for him. The last time You-Know-Who had been around, he'd been a baby and hadn't been too bothered about it. But now he was fifteen and best friends with number one on You-Know-Who's hit list. He needed to get away from it. Ron pushed his chair back and walked through into the living room, thinking absent-mindedly of creating some new chess moves. He walked in to find his mother sitting next to the fire, knitting a (yuck) maroon sock. Ron had a feeling he knew who it was for. Ron didn't feel like company right now, and was about to turn around and go upstairs when his mother looked up. "Hello dear." She said, smiling at him. Ron smiled back. "Hi mum." He said, walking towards the table his chessboard and playing pieces stood on. He picked them up and turned to leave when his mother spoke again. "How do you think Harry is doing?" She asked him, sounding concerned. Ron shrugged. "I don't know." He said truthfully. He didn't know- but it was to be assumed that Harry was quite worried. Ron was heading towards the door. "How are you doing?" Mrs Weasley asked. Ron paused, wondering how to answer the question. "Fine." He said finally, stepping out of the room quickly and hurrying up the stairs.  
  
~*~ Harry, How are you? It's only a day into the holidays, and I'm already pretty bored. We were going to play Quidditch this morning, but it was pouring with rain, and of course Mum wouldn't let us out, so that idea went out the window and got soaked.  
  
Ron paused, thinking what to say next. He had been going to put some of the things his father had told him last night, but then thought Harry wouldn't want to be reminded of it all. Not that he could forget. shaking his head, Ron resumed writing, trying to keep things light.  
  
How's the operation going? I was thinking of taking a leaf out of Hermione's book and founding a society. It's called Society with the Intention of Committing Killings of Ugly People. (S.I.C.K.U.P for short). This society would include your family, You-Know-Who and of course Draco Malfoy. What do you think? Ron  
  
Ron folded up the letter and put it to one side. Taking a second piece of parchment, he began a letter to Hermione.  
  
Hermione, How are you? I don't know what the weather's like in London, but it's pouring down in Ottery St. Catchpole. But being stuck indoors has it's upside- I get to walk around proudly wearing my spew badge for all to see.  
  
Ron paused in the middle of this letter as well. Should he tell Hermione about the ministry? Would she want to know anything? Deciding that Hermione always wanted to know everything, Ron carried on.  
  
My Dad says hardly anyone believes him and Dumbledore, so things at the Ministry are really great. (Sarcasm). I really hate all this tension.  
  
Ron stopped writing. Why had he written that? OK, he didn't like the feeling in the house, but that was no reason to go telling everyone. He loaded his quill with eraser-ink and went over the writing again, watching it disappear without a trace. He put some normal ink back onto his quill and finished the letter.  
  
I don't know how Harry is because I'm sending him a letter the same time as you- if Pig delivers yours first then don't read it- it includes an ongoing discussion about how we think we should turn your hair green and stick you to the wall of the Great Hall during breakfast on April Fool's Day. Ron.  
  
Ron folded up this letter as well and handed both to Pig, who was hopping up and down, mad with excitement. "These are for Harry and Hermione." He said, tying them onto Pig's leg with difficulty. Pig barely gave him time to finish before hopping from the desk and out the window. Ron shook his head and sat back, reflecting on how stupid his owl was.  
  
  
  
I apologise profusely (I love that word) for how long this took to get up, and how crap it is. Please review! 


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